Fireworks and Claws
by drthmik
Summary: After her family died on Alcatraz Island at the hands of Magneto Jubilee latches onto Logan as her new father figure. Despite his chagrin and attempts to loose her she manages to keep up. Eventually he takes her under his wing as they travel together.
1. Prologue: On the Run

**Fireworks and Claws**

Standard Disclaimer:

All Marvel characters are © Marvel, I make no money off of them, please don't sue, I have no money.

The story itself and any characters I make up, however, is © Me, please don't use or copy without permission

Continuity and stuff:

First, right off the bat

GO OUT AND RENT X-Men 3, or buy it

This is because the scene that forms the basis for this story is easily missed if you aren't watching for it. (I missed it in the theater myself) Also I'll refer to some of the alternate endings found on the DVD so go get it.

The scene:

On the Golden gate bridge, before magneto shows up there is a 5-10 second scene showing a young girl with black hair playing a video game in the back of an SUV. When magneto shows they become trapped in the SUV

Whether this is anyone specific or not in the eyes of the directors, writers, or Marvel I don't care

For this story that little girl is Jubilation Lee and that night on that island her family dies at the hands of Magneto and Pyro when they use their SUV as a flaming missile. Only the manifestation of her powers saves her. (What happens to the girl and her family isn't shown in the movie. You don't actually see Mags pick up the car with the family in it, I added it.)

Jean, Xavier and Scott are all dead and will stay that way

Rogue does NOT take the cure (as shown in one of the alternate endings found in the deleted scenes)

Hank doesn't become an ambassador to the UN but rather becomes a teacher at the Xavier school (again Alt. Ending)

Logan takes off for Canada (Alt. Ending)

Summary: After her family died on Alcatraz Island at the hands of Magneto Jubilation Lee latches onto Logan as her new father figure. Despite his chagrin and attempts to loose her she manages to keep up. Eventually he takes her under his wing as they travel together.

So then, let's get started

Prologue: **On the Run**

He didn't know how she did it. Really he didn't. He had found her shivering and weeping in the burnt out remains of an SUV after the battle of Alcatraz. Her powers had manifested in the instant that Pyro had incinerated the vehicle launched as a weapon by Magneto. Her powers had saved her, but not her family. He had told her that his name was Logan even as she had clung to him like a lifeline. He had then left her at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters and took off for Canada. He had gone to the bar that he had found Rogue at and had a few beers and upon leaving had found her, sitting on his motorcycle, with a small napsack, eating beef jerky.

He had told her to go back to the school and had ridden off leaving her behind, but the next bar he stopped at, she was there, waiting for him when he came out.

And the next one

And the one after that

And at the hotel

And the next bar

And the truck stop

The bar after that

The motel

The grocery store

The next bar

The gas station

The diner

His camp site

The next bar

The rest stop

The bed and breakfast

The next bar

The hardware store

Another camp site

The diner he had eaten at this morning

And now he was here

Logan looked down into his beer and sighed. Tossing the rest of it back he dropped a couple twenties on the counter and got up to leave. She had been following him for a little over a week now, if you included the trip to Alberta from New York and she had never appeared while he watched, only when he was out of sight of his cycle. Two days ago he had started going out of his way to loose her, traveling in random directions, taking strange routs to get places, taking the long way. He was almost having fun. He almost forgot why he was on the move. He had killed Jean, his love. He knew it had been necessary, that doing so had saved the world. That didn't stop the pain.

Walking out of the truck stop, Logan looked over at the motorcycle that had been Scott's, it had a trailer now that held and extra gas can and his camping supplies, tent, blankets, propane cooking stove, a skillet, pot, percolator, coffee, spices, a fifth of whiskey and a cooler with ice, steaks, bacon, eggs and butter.

What it didn't have was Jubilee waiting for him.

She HAD been there; he could smell her scent, still fresh, Ozone and cinnamon bubblegum. It left a trail around the back of the truck stop.

His enhanced hearing picked up a couple of pops in that direction and he started running. There were two trucks parked side by side right where her scent lead him. He smelled fear in her scent now.

Rounding the first truck he saw her. She was going through the pockets of a big burley trucker. He was sprawled out on the ground where he had fallen; his buddy was next to him. Their pants were down around their ankles and their ears were bleeding.

She found his wallet and went through it taking about $60 from it. Standing she glanced over at Logan. He noticed that her eyes glowed red as she dropped the wallet next the man's head. And moved to the next guy and finding a money clip took it and the $40 she found there.

Logan stood at the front of the trucks and watched as the little 13 year old girl casually stripped the two would be rapists of cash, then rolled one over and pulled off his leather flight jacket and put it on. It was way too big for her and the arms were too long but it was warmer than the light wind breaker that was now lying, torn on the ground.

Her knapsack was also torn. Seeing this she walked over to the man on the right and kicked him viciously in the side.

Logan heard a rib break.

She then went to one of the trucks and Logan heard a pop and the lock burst with a flash. She climbed in and after a bit climbed out with a nice leather duffle. Dumping the stuff out she grabbed a couple things she apparently wanted from the pile and shoved that stuff and her torn knapsack into the duffle. Repeating the exploding lock trick she went into the second truck and came out with a few more items which went in the bag. Zipping it closed she picked it up and passed Logan headed for the truck stop.

Logan flinched as a ripple of bangs as every tire, on both semis, suddenly had holes blown in them.

Following her Logan watched her pull out credit cards and do cash advances on all of them, Extracting about $800 before the machine wouldn't let her take any more. She left most of the cards on the ATM machine and turned to him.

"Need gas?" she asked holding up a card.

"Sure, kid." He drove his cycle over to a tank and she filled up his bike and the gas can. The bike's overdrive needed premium and the bike had a bigger tank than most. She left the card sticking out of the reader.

She was watching him, holding the duffle, waiting for him to drive away.

"Hop on kid." He said taking her duffle and strapping it to the front of the trailer.

Her eyes lit up, flashing yellow and blue and she climbed onto the back of the bike and wrapped her arms around his waist.

Off they drove into the sunset.

Author's notes

Well there we go. Jubilee is a bit more hardcore than she is in the comic, and she doesn't talk as much but then she just recently had her parents and brother killed right in front of her. Constructive Criticism is welcome, Read and Review.


	2. Rollin' With the Hits

**Fireworks and Claws**

Standard Disclaimer:

All Marvel characters are © Marvel, I make no money off of them, please don't sue, I have no money.

The story itself and any characters I make up, however, is © Me, please don't use or copy without permission

Chapter 1: **Rollin' With the Hits**

Her eyes opened slowly and then stared at the ceiling of the tent watching the ripples of kinetic energy flow through the air and the nylon fabric. Then with the grace of an Olympic gymnast, which she almost had been, she rose and began her morning stretches. She had found that sleeping on the ground made her stiff for hours unless she stretched. Moving smoothly from position to position she had settled into the final 'resting' position when she heard the hiss of bacon hitting a hot skillet. Jubilee smiled and stood up. Warming up her powers could wait until after breakfast.

Unzipping the flap that divided the 'bedroom' part of the tent from the larger 'living room' part she walked past the rumpled blankets Logan slept on and out the open door to where Logan was cooking breakfast on the propane stove.

His head turned slightly and he looked at her out of the corner of one eye.

"Go ahead and finish your warm-up. You have time."

Nodding minutely she turned and walked into the woods. Finding the nearby clearing where she practiced her powers she sat lotus style on the rock near the center. Closing her eyes she allowed her mind to wander even as she concentrated on the exercise.

Eyes closed

Hands on knees

Breathe in

Wind blows

Energy ripples and flows

Breathe out

Grass shivers

Air vibrates

Energy shivers

Breathe in

It had been a month since Logan had let her start riding with him. Fall was coming on and the Canadian forests were abloom with color. The falling leaves made perfect target practice.

Breathe out

A leaf breaks loose and flutters into the clearing on the wind

Energy ripples

TWIST compress

PAFF

The leaf explodes into smoke, ash and light

The air shocks

Breathe in

Two more leaves

Focus

PAFF PAFF

Another

PAFF

They had traded in the PAFF Bike's trailer for a larger model and she had gotten a PAFF helmet at the next town with a motorcycle dealership. They had PAFF PAFF gotten a bigger cooler, a few more cooking supplies and a sleeping bag for her. PAFF

Breathe out

Every leaf that entered the clearing for almost five minutes was reduced to confetti instantly. Then a fist sized rock flew at her head. PAM the rock was knocked away by an explosion going off directly in its path. Jubilee had learned the hard way that simply blowing the rock up could hurt just as much as being hit with it.

"Breakfast's ready."

They arrived in town a little after noon and ate lunch at the bar. While Logan stayed at the bar to drink beer and play pool, jubilee walked over to the library, about two miles away, and began to read. Logan had insisted that when there was a library, she would go and study.

If she hadn't agreed he would have taken her back to the School.

So she went, picked up some books on history, science and math and spent two hours reading each, taking notes in a three subject notebook that she carried with her. She really liked the science books, especially physics and chemistry; they helped her learn about how her powers worked. She only studied history and math because if she didn't Logan would give her a disappointed look. He never lectured her, or scolded but she knew that he couldn't remember his own history and so that subject was important to him, and she soon learned the importance of math to the sciences she enjoyed.

When she was done she tried to find one of the books that she was reading for fun, she had several since not every library had the same books. She found 'The Two Towers' she had finished the 'Fellowship of the Ring' last week. Opening the book she read until the library closed at 8.

She then made the trek back to the bar and upon arriving would tell Logan about her studies then he would teach her some French for about an hour. They had performed variations of this routine for almost two months now.

Today was different.

Some lowlife, drunk to the gills, had lost a lot of money to Logan at the pool table, and was now starting to loudly proclaim that Logan had cheated. Logan ignored the man, then he attacked, Logan countered, they fought. Then some of they guy's friends showed up, just as drunk as he, from another bar and joined in. A chair went flying, her eyes widened as she saw it headed for her, her hand came up and the chair was blown to splinters. Everyone was silent for a moment. Then with a roar all hell broke loose.

Logan stood ready, "You're sure?" In response she ran at him dropped, pivoting on one foot, swept his legs.

Or, at least she tried to. He hopped over her sweeping leg and in one smooth motion, landed and bending, drove his fist into her face, stopping just before he hit her nose. "That's a KO kid." He said kindly then opened his hand and helped her to her feet.

He had begun teaching her martial arts after a bar fight in which she had used her powers which resulted in everyone in the bar attacking them. He found that her extensive training in Ballet and Gymnastics made a perfect base to add martial arts training but as he told her, "One month of defense training isn't enough to go one on one with me. But keep working at it."

He set her some more exercises to perform and went to the kitchen for a beer. They had gone to his cabin when snow started falling and he had purchased a pickup truck. Grabbing a beer from the fridge he went back out to give Jubilee some more pointers. She was a wonderful student. In only a month of instruction she could perform each move flawlessly. Now the training on how to use the moves together would begin. He gave Jubilee a set of ten moves to perform together in sequence. And then he took off.

Arriving in town he bought some beer 'getting low' food to last a couple days and then he stopped at the library. He had gotten a card when they arrived at his cabin and had already gotten her books to study. These he dropped off and went to get some more. Three history books, one on Physics, one chemistry book, a geometry book, and the magazine 'Teen' later he was looking at novels. She wanted either 'Return of the King' or 'Speaker for the Dead' Finding the Card novel he checked out and drove home.

When he got home he found her dedicatedly working on the moves. Leaving the books in her room he proceeded to make dinner.

The kid was a natural; Logan thought as he deflected a punch to his throat and struck at hers in return. She sidestepped the strike and hit him in the left kidney. As he turned with the blow lessoning it's impact she suddenly was in a handstand and her foot hit the back of his head. He was still slightly off balance when she dropped and rolled into the back of his legs, knocking him over backwards. Even as he fell he tried to twist in order to land on his hip and roll away.

It would have worked too, if her foot hadn't struck strait up between his legs into his crotch.

His reaction was instant and instinctive.

SNICK

So was hers

BOOM

He found himself smashing into the wall and sliding to the floor almost ten feet away.

"Damn, Kid. You've got some power in you." Logan smirked and she flashed him that brilliant smile, her eyes flashed bright sky blue.

"It's official, Kid, you lasted all through a ten minute fight with me without your powers. I'm proud of ya kid."

Her smile got even bigger and the sky blue glow in her eyes began to spark "Now go read something educational, and I'll plan a celebration for graduating fighting class. You like malls?" She nodded her eyes blazing with sky blue light and sparks and turned away headed towards her room, But not before he saw tears of joy leak out of her eyes.

Grunting in satisfaction he went out the shed behind the house and pulled out the black wooden sword he had carved from oak, died black and attached silver trimmings. He had started carving the ceremonial sword a week after she had started training and had finished it only the day before. And had finished it's display stand only that morning.

The next morning he woke her early and had her kneel in the center of the floor. He presented her with the sword and again he saw the fierce glow of her joy. He gave her the stand and told her to put it in her room and get ready to go to the mall. He made breakfast and they ate.

"Ever been to the Mall of America?" he asked her. She shook her head and finished her bacon. "Well this one's bigger and it'll take us an hour and a half to get there so hurry with you eggs."

She made record time downing the scrambled eggs and was soon pulling on her winter coat. He made sure he had enough cash and followed her out to the truck.


	3. Birthday at the Mall

**Fireworks and Claws**

Standard Disclaimer:

All Marvel characters are © Marvel, I make no money off of them, please don't sue, I have no money.

The story itself and any characters I make up, however, is © Me, please don't use or copy without permission

A/N; Sorry this took so much longer than the other chapters, they were written during a week long vacation from work, Which unfortunately ended.  With luck chapter 3 won't take this long.

Chapter 2: **Birthday at the Mall**

The Parking for the Edmonton Mall was a marvel unto itself; Jubilee looked in wonder as a sea of cars surrounded them. Logan pulled into the special underground parking lot, paying the fee, and they got out and went to the hotel. He had planed this as a birthday surprise for Jubilee; he had gotten information from Ororo that had told him some of her history.

Age, 15

Schooling, Home schooled, tested at High school junior level last year.

Birth date, December 15th

Logan was surprised about her age, he had placed her at no older than 13 years old when he had first seen her. But when the envelope had come with the folder in it there was a copy of her birth certificate that clearly showed how old she was.

So here they were.

At the biggest mall in North America.

Her birthday was in two days plus Christmas was coming soon and there was her graduation from hand to hand combat instruction to celebrate. So he had made reservations at the in-mall-inn, for a week. He could only get one room but it had two beds.

Checking in he told her of the plan to stay the week and by the time they were putting their stuff in the hotel room she was actually glowing. A light blue aura was covering her body even as her eyes mirrored the color throwing sparks.

"Well," he told her as they left the hotel and began walking through the mall, "We have seven days, 600 stores, parks, amusements and shows. Happy Birthday Kid."

Looking startled as she had never told him her birth date she flashed an even bigger smile and threw her arms around the burley Canadian in a big hug.

After that they split up. Logan had packed things for the trip but since it was a surprise she had not so she went shopping for a weeks worth of clothes, packing a credit card that he had put in her name just for this trip. While he made a beeline for the casino and proceeded to sit at a table, drinking beer, ale, and whiskey while playing poker until she found him.

He had a respectable pile in front of him. His enhanced senses allowed him to know a bluff or when someone had an unbeatable hand and he played accordingly. As such he won more than lost and was able to accumulate chips at a steady rate. He had earned over five thousand dollars in the last three hours and was beginning to wonder where Jubilee was when she walked up and stood behind him.

Finishing his hand he collected his chips and cashed in, it was time for lunch and they went to one of the many food courts and ate. They then spent the rest of that day in the five acre indoor water park, going back to the hotel only when the water park closed for the night.

The next day, after getting up, showering, and eating breakfast jubilee took him to the West 49 Skate Park and having bought both of them roller blades, proceeded to teach him blading. It was surprisingly easy as he knew how to ice-skate and that quickly translated into the roller blades. Soon she was performing some of the most spectacular aerial stunts on the half pike, spins, back flips, handstands and the like and she attracted quite an audience which clapped appreciatively when she finished in a summersault that ended with her on her knees, facing the people. She got up and glided over to him and together they went to lunch.

For the rest of their stay they strolled through the mall together, looking at shops, eating at food courts and going on rides and to shows. Anything that jubilee wanted Logan bought.

A 50 inch plasma HDTV and a couch and recliner set (to be delivered)

DVD player and about 30 movies

PS3 Xbox360 and about a dozen games

Clothes of all types

A laptop

Shoes

Jewelry

On the night of her birthday Logan took her to Jubilations Dinner Theatre

They went to Galaxyland where Logan discovered that he actually liked riding roller coasters

They checked out the two dance clubs and the sea lions and flamingos

Logan was surprised; he had thought that shopping would be a chore, being bored and following the 16 year old carrying bags and boxes as she flew from store to store. But instead he found himself enjoying the time spent with Jubilee. She didn't talk much but she had a way of looking at you that could tell you what she was thinking. She actually bought a lot less than he had thought she would and would often pick something up and would make a short comment about it that made them both laugh before putting the item back.

It had been the day after her birthday that Jubilee asked Logan when HIS birthday was.

Logan was surprised. Nobody in his recollection had ever asked him that. Not that that meant anything, given how many holes there were in his memories. But he stopped and pondered. He really had no idea. After admitting this Jubilee was silent for a while.

Soon they passed a food court and the issue of Logan's birthday was set aside for lunch.

That night the dreams, or perhaps memories, started up again and Jubilee began to do something that Logan was never quite aware of. When he began to fret and toss and turn, sometimes growling and sometimes sobbing, she woke, got up and crawling into his bed, would wrap her arms around him in a hug and comfort him, sleeping in his bed. He never woke when she did this, too used to her proximity, and she was always in her bed when he woke.

On the last day of their stay at the mall they bought Christmas decorations and then packed everything in the truck for the trip home.


End file.
